This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

We’ve moved from the old normal of steady economic growth, with jobs that paid enough to live on and rising wages; into a new normal of fitful growth, global uncertainty, constrained government revenues and a long, slow exodus of 2 million baby boomers from the workforce.

Over the next 20 years, he expects cyclical ups and downs, shock waves from abroad, brief windfalls at home and new technologies that will change the economic landscape. But the overall trajectory will be flatter than it has ever been in our lives.

To put that in numbers, Ontario’s economy will grow at an average annual rate of 2.1 per cent a year between now and 2035. That is slower than the rest of Canada (2.2 per cent), slower than the United States (2.4 per cent) and slower than the global average (3.1 per cent). “We need to start thinking beyond election cycles,” Sousa told MPPs.

Article Continued Below

Barely were the words out of his mouth, however, when he delivered pre-election blasts at both opposition parties. “This is not a time for reckless cuts that Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives are advocating for nor is it a time for the inexperience of the New Democratic Party.”

The rest of his economic report consisted of a glowing review of the Liberal record and a vow to stay the course, which means more belt-tightening, more incentives to private companies, incremental improvements in the province’s aging infrastructure and a continued focus on health and education, at the expense of all other programs.

It was meant as a prelude to Sousa’s May 1 budget, much of which has been leaked. He will announce an urban transit funding plan, a break for hydro consumers, new highways, better services for people with disabilities, OHIP coverage for in vitro fertilization and a light-rail line through NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s riding. Despite the $5.7-billion price tag, he will stay on track to balance the budget in 2017-18.

This grab-bag is as short-term as it gets. It is designed to last for one election campaign.

But Sousa is right. We do need to start thinking beyond election cycles.

That means electing a government that is ready to confront the long-term structural problems Ontario faces:

The nature of work has changed. A job no longer means an Ontarian earns enough to live on. It is no longer enough to lift a family out of poverty. We either need a plan to fix the broken link between work and self-sufficiency or a new set of stigma-free social programs to fill the gap.

We need an economic strategy that is in tune with global trends and the priorities of the next generation. Subsidizing manufacturing — auto assembly plants, aerospace companies, food processing terminals — isn’t going to attract investment or create the jobs of the future.

We have to prepare for an aging population. Our home care system is underfunded and unreliable. We don’t have enough nursing homes. We don’t have the right kind of housing for a society with more elders than young families. Our cities — particularly the suburbs — aren’t senior friendly. And we don’t have a lot of time to turn things around.

We need an education system connected to the labour market. We can’t keep training our young people for jobs that aren’t available. It’s not fair to them and it’s a waste of resources — theirs and ours as taxpayers.

All the signs point to a June election in Ontario. We can’t afford a campaign of cheap shots and short-sighted promises. We need to hear from a provincial leader with a credible plan to fix an economy that is not working for the people of Ontario.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com